


Promise Kept

by Wahkeetcha



Category: Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
Genre: Family Drama, Gen, Hansel needing injection, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-31
Updated: 2013-01-31
Packaged: 2017-11-27 17:29:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/664573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wahkeetcha/pseuds/Wahkeetcha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a little Hansel needing his injection moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Promise Kept

**Author's Note:**

> First Hansel and Gretel, but many more in the make. First ever post on here.

It was an insistent and annoying sound. It pierced through the silence of their rented room, too close and too loud. Gretel gives an irritated moan and rolls over in the bed, burying her head beneath the pillow in an attempt to drown out the racket. Somewhere in the back of her mind she’s able to identify the source, but exhaustion from the day’s battle leaves her mind muddled and unable to collect her thoughts enough to do something about it.   
She drifts off a bit more, her world warm and soft   
Except for the mechanical noise   
With a frustrated hiss the witch hunter opens her eyes and scans the darkness of the room with sleep blurred eyes. Gretel frowns a bit, knowing that when they had finally settled in for the night (more like collapsed after getting cleaned up) there had been at least one candle lit on the small wash table across the small room. It wasn’t that the two siblings were afraid of the dark, just that they had developed a distinct dislike for what could be hiding in the blackness. Without moving she scans the room once more, thankful for the bright winter moon shining enough light through the single, tiny window above the bed. 

“Hansel?” She calls lightly, twisting around in the bed to locate the side her brother had bedded down on after he’d scrubbed the blood and dirt from his skin. The thin bedroll was askew and bunched beside the bed but her brother was not curled up on it. 

“Hansel.” She hisses and once again casts a more awake eye around the room, breathe hitching in her chest. The incessant noise she realizes is coming from the corner of the room, now cast in shadow. Gretel curses colorfully and throws back the warm covers on the rented bed before lying lengthwise across the mattress to peer into the darkness beneath the bed. Her eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness enough to allow her to make out the vague and shapeless silhouette of Hansel, curled up beneath the bed frame, blanket clutched around his shoulders. Gretel groans as her muscles protest the movements but she is able to maneuver enough of her upper body under the bed so she can urgently prod at her sibling. 

“Hansel, wake up.” She commands with a sharp tone and even sharper finger jabbing into the sensitive knot of scar tissue she knows is located near his lower back. Hansel gives a jerk and breathless growl before scooting further away from Gretel’s urgings. 

“Really?” Gretel grouses and tries to reach her brother’s sleeping form once more but the reflective spasm had moved him farther away from her grasp. Cursing once more she pushes herself back onto the bed, annoyance pulling her lips back into a soundless snarl as the mechanical noise continues on. Gretel is vaguely thankful that the obnoxious sound cannot climb is volume like the one the tinker had tried to convince Hansel to purchase. Beneath the bed she can hear Hansel’s breathing hitch and continue a moment later a bit more labored and harsh, the sound spurring the hunter into movement. Barefoot and wearing Hansel’s thicker twill shirt she quickly lights the candle beside the bed and heads towards the gear in the corner. Hansel’s battered and scarred leather coat rests atop his rucksack, his meager possessions placed neatly in the corner—much different than Gretel’s own items which are strewn about the room with a carelessness Hansel abhors. 

“Your obsessive neatness comes in handy at times brother… your forgetfulness not as much.” She remarks softly and picks through the gear before finding the gauntlet and stopping the noise by winding it back up fully. The device continues to softly tick, the minute vibrations causing her hand to tickle as the hunter searches for the small side holster. Metal brushes her hand and Gretel quickly grabs the metal and glass injector. In the candlelight Gretel can see the pale solution inside the blown glass tubing and swallows thickly before moving quietly but quickly around to the other side of the bed. With the candle chasing away the pressing darkness the woman can easily make out her brother’s sleeping features and gives a sad sigh. 

“Hansel, wake up.” She orders sternly even as her stomach drops and quakes at the sight of his pale sweat drenched skin. When he doesn’t respond Gretel resorts to unkind tactics and reaches one hand beneath the bed and jabs him in the throat. Hansel reacts to the assault instinctively, his hand lashing out quickly as his body tenses, the movements sluggish and weak.

Inevitably however, the underside of the rented beds do not have the clearance for a thrashing human body and the resounding thwack of a head connecting solidly with wood causes Hansel to grunt. 

“Are you awake?” Gretel presses, not giving her sibling a moment to think about his answer before shoving the injector into his trembling fingers. Recognition and pain chase each other around in her brother’s blurry gaze but he simply nods and winces before contorting his frame to access the injection site on his thigh. Gretel watches with a disinterested gaze as her older sibling folds in onto himself with a pain filled grunt and jabs the needle into the muscle before depressing the contents. Without ceremony Hansel removes the needle and stretches himself out on his back, eyes closed and waiting as the tremors causing his muscles to spasm weakly build and then recede. Gretel plucks the used item from her sibling’s calloused hand, replacing it with the leather bracer.

“I hate solstices, whoever thought of changing the time the sun rises and sets should be hung by his balls.” Hansel mutters thickly, his words clear and movements becoming more coordinated as the serum sets to work. Grey eyes with a tint of blue set in an average handsome face turn to regard his sibling who smiles softly back and intertwine her long fingers in his. 

“I agree. Tomorrow will be easier.” She whispers as Hansel closes his eyes once more, the tautness in his muscles relaxing as he drops back off into sleep. Gretel sits for a few moments more, shivering as a draft races along her bare legs but simply refuses to return to the warmth of her own bed before she knows Hansel is fully asleep. Setting aside the injector Gretel gently moves the blanket into a better possession over her brother’s shoulders, earning a sleepy sigh of gratitude from the fighter. Pleased to have the room silent once more the witch hunter resettles herself back onto the bed and curls up beneath the covers, content with knowing her sibling is safe.  
Neither of them questions it anymore; they’ve grown content with their habits, even if those around them regard them strangely for them. Gretel knows her brother will protect her till his dying breath, his unwavering loyalty to a promise made long ago never allowing him to falter. It was Gretel’s silent promise, also made years before that she would protect her brother from himself when she can, whether it is by force, coercion or simple hard handed guidance. 

It worked for them.

To hell with everyone else.


End file.
